safe on a platform, and the
lights were bunched to their full radiance. Some one cried:

"Minnie Dare is not here!" "And, by Jove, Eldon Brand is not here,
either!" said the chorus. Then in a low tone, "Could it have been
suicide? How horrible!"

And this thought was the prevailing one, for the trials of the lovers
were well known.

Jason Hammond ran back precipitately with the guide, and in a sort of
frenzy peered far into the awful chasm. Words of blasphemy were on his
lips as he began to realize to what end his persecution had driven the
fair young creature he had sworn to win. As for Brand, he rejoiced in
his fate. Could it have been an accident? He thought not.

"No use," repeated the guide, "I can come back here and bring somebody
who will go down on a rope. But I tell you the bottom of that place has
never been found yet. We let a young fellow down by a rope last summer
in a frolic--his name was Mr. Clarence Prentice--and he pretty soon
called out to haul him up. Learned folks say a river runs down there,
and there ain't any bottom at all. Everything gets swept away with the
current. I don't know how it is, I am sure,"

Slowly the terror-stricken company wended their way back to earth, the
light of enjoyment driven from their hearts. The girls gave themselves
up to sobs and tears, and all dreaded to convey the tidings to the
bereaved families.

The men went back with ropes and grappling hooks, but nothing came of
their labors. The bodies of the hapless lovers were not found, and none
knew how they had gone over the treacherous crag into the abyss below.
Surmises were rife, but prudence chose the better part of silent
sympathy. The newspapers fairly gloated over the tragedy, and summer
visitors were divided between curiosity to look upon the spot and fear
lest they, too, might miss their footing; hence the profits of Cave
Hotel were not noticeably on the decrease.

Colonel Dare refused to be comforted, unless, indeed, he could rejoice
at the escape of the dove from the eagle's clutches. Now that the girl
was lost to him, Hammond was willing to accept terms before declined;
and the Dare ancestral home was at once put upon the market for sale.

Eldon Brand had no near relatives, but there were many to mourn his
untimely fate.

* * * * *

Some hours after the disappearance of the lovers, Stephen, the guide,
re-entered the cave with a large bundle in his arms, and accompanied